vM»ffibernl2 


ilBIANi 


STUDIES  IN 
LONGFELLOW 


OUTLINES  FOR  SCHOOLS 
CONVERSATION  CLASSES 
AND  HOME  STUDIES 


W.  C.  iGANNETT 


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20je  Ktoersfoe  literature  Series 


STUDIES  IN  LONGFELLOW 

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OUTLINES  FOR  SCHOOLS,  CONVERSATION 
CLASSES,  AND  HOME  STUDY 


W,  C.  GANNETT 


HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

Boston : 4 Park  Street ; New  York : 11  East  Seventeenth  Street 
Chicago : 158  Adams  Street 

(Cbe  :$rw,  Cambri&oe 


Copyright,  1883, 

By  W.  C.  GANNETT. 


All  rights  reserved . 


The  Riverside  Press , Cambridge , Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  0.  Houghton  & Company 


3W\axM  A'j arsha.ll 


THESE  OUTLINES. 


S)l 
h S 4 


1 

i 


This  is  humble,  almost  mechanic,  work,  — cutting  and 
losing  a part  of  the  gem  in  order  to  show  it  in  shining 
sides.  Yet  such  work  gives  a pleasure,  and  to  others 
besides  the  worker.  A dozen  or  twenty  friends  often 
plan  to  study  together  some  favorite  author.  These 
“ Outlines  ” are  meant  to  help  such  circles  in  school, 
or  in  church,  or  in  village,  when  they  choose  for  their 
author  Longfellow.  The  outfit  needed  to  use  them 
is, — 

(1.)  A copy  of  Longfellow’s  “ Poems  ” and  of  his 
“ Christus,”  each  in  the  “ Household  Edition.”  The 
page-references. are  all  to  that  edition.  No  edition  ear- 
lier than  the  latest  of  1883  contains  all  the  “ poems.” 
The  volume  called  “ Christus  ” contains  the  “ Divine 
Tragedy,”  the  “ Golden  Legend,”  and  the  two  “New 
England  Tragedies ; ” and  the  page-references  to  these 
dramas  are  given  with  their  respective  initials.  (Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  & Co.,  Boston.  Each  $1.50.) 

(2.)  His  prose-works  are  “ Outre-Mer  ” and  “ Hype- 
rion” (each,  in  paper,  15  cts. ; bound,  40  cts.)  and  “ Kav- 
anagh,”  which  contains  also  the  “ Drift-Wood  ” essays 
($1.50).  “ Hyperion  ” is  frequently  referred  to  by  page. 
The  other  two  will  be  helpful,  but  not  needful.  (Hough- 
ton, Mifflin  & Co.) 

(3.)  G.  L.  Austin’s  account  is  the  best  “Life”  of 


I 


I 


iv 


THESE  OUTLINES . 


Longfellow  yet  written.  (Lee  & Shepard,  Boston. 
$2.00.)  W.  S.  Kennedy’s  scrap-book,  called  “ H.  W. 
Longfellow  : Biography,  Anecdote,  Letters,  Criticism,” 
is  cheaper  and  more  easily  obtained,  and  it  is  this  which 
is  constantly  referred  to  in  the  Outlines  as  “ Life.” 
(D.  Lothrop  Co.,  Boston.  $1.25.)  There  is  a third 
sketch,  by  F.  H.  Underwood.  (Houghton,  Mifflin  & Co., 
Boston.  $1.50.) 

The  quarto  Illustrated  Longfellow,  “New  Subscrip- 
tion Edition,”  holds  all  of  his  prose  and  poetry,  with  a 
fine  sketch  of  his  life  and  writings,  by  O.  B.  Frothing- 
ham,  and  several  hundred  illustrations.  It  will  give  real 
aid  as  well  as  pleasure  to  a class  that  can  afford  a copy. 
Forty-five  parts,  each  50  cts.  For  class  purposes  the 
separate  parts  are  better  than  bound  volumes.  (Hough- 
ton, Mifflin  & Co.) 

Helpful  criticism  will  be  found  in  the  following  arti- 
cles : — E.  C.  Stedman,  in  the  “ Century  ” for  October, 
1883  ; this  the  best  yet.  — Henry  Norman,  in  the  “ Liv- 
ing Age,”  No.  2015,  for  February  3,  1883.  — W.  D. 
Howells,  in  the  “ North  American  Review, ” vol.  civ.,  for 
April,  1867.  — O.  B.  Frothingham,  in  the  “ Atlantic  ” for 
June,  1882,  and  in  the  sketch  just  mentioned.  — R.  H. 
Stoddard,  an  illustrated  article  in  “ Scribner’s  Monthly,” 
vol.  xvii.,  for  November,  1878,  reprinted  in  “ Homes 
and  Haunts  of  our  (Six)  Elder  Poets.”  (D.  Appleton 
& Co.,  New  York.  $5.00.)  — G.  E.  Ellis,  O.  W.  Holmes, 
and  C.  E.  Norton,  in  “ Tributes  to  Longfellow  and  Emer- 
son ” by  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  (The  J.  G. 
Cupples  Co.,  94  Boylston  St.,  Boston.  $1.50.)  Parts  of 
this  are  in  Kennedy’s  “ Life.”  — The  “ Literary  World  ” 
for  February  26,  1881,  a “Longfellow  number,”  offers 
us  many  short  articles  about  the  Poet  and  his  works 


THESE  OUTLINES. 


v 


by  different  writers,  and  a valuable  bibliography,  - — the 
latter  reprinted  in  Kennedy’s  “ Life.”  (1  Somerset  St., 
Boston.  10  cts.)  For  further  references  see  Poole’s 
u Index,”  and  the  useful  “ Monthly  Reference  Lists  ” 
of  the  Providence  Public  Library  for  February,  1882. 
(10  cts.) 

A few  words  about  the  study-class  itself,  and  its  meth- 
ods. Home-reading,  by  all  the  members,  of  all  the  poems 
listed,  in  preparation  for  each  meeting,  will  make  the 
meetings  far  more  interesting.  Without  such  home- 
work the  study  will  count  for  very  little  good  ; with  it, 
besides  the  immediate  good,  pleasant  reading-paths  may 
open  in  many  directions  from  the  poems  outwards.  At 
each  meeting  two  or  three  short  papers  or  prepared 
talks,  with  illustrative  readings,  might  occupy  one  half 
the  time ; the  other  half  should  be  secured,  past  betrayal, 
for  general  conversation.  Experience  shows  that  the 
careful  study  necessary  for  the  papers  will  be  recalled 
by  each  writer  as  the  best  thing  in  the  whole  course  to 
him ; so  all  should  bravely  and  earnestly  take  a turn. 
But  the  success  of  a paper  should  be  measured  by  its  ca- 
pacity of  making  conversation  ; for  on  the  conversation, 
not  on  the  papers,  depends  the  chief  enjoyment  of  the 
meetings.  Still  more,  then,  should  all  take  part  in  this, 
each  coming  with  full  courage  on,  and  a secret  vow  to 
say  something  every  time.  Short  papers  and  general 
talk  are  the  life,  and  long  papers  and  long  talkers  are  the 
death,  of  a class.  Another  duty  for  each  — being  an- 
other source  of  pleasure  for  all  — is  to  read  nobly  what- 
ever may  be  quoted  from  the  Poet.  It  is  a good  plan  to 
nave  a committee  appointed  to  cast  the  papers  and  take 
general  charge  of  the  meetings  ; and  it  helps  much  to 
print  at  the  beginning  the  full  programme  of  writers,  sub- 


VI 


THESE  OUTLINES . 


jects  and  dates.  It  is  a good  plan,  too,  for  all,  before 
beginning,  to  date  in  their  Index  each  group  of  the 
Poems  as  published : tjie  bibliography  above  referred  to 
gives  the  dates. 

Finally,  through  all  the  study  and  the  conversation  it 
should  be  remembered  that  criticism  — which  is  not  crit- 
icism unless  it  be  individual  and  frank  — is  only  a means 
to  real  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  a noble  author. 

Similar  but  shorter  outlines  for  the  study  of  Holmes, 
Bryant  and  Whittier,  the  three  in  one  pamphlet,  are  for 
sale  at  the  office  of  Charles  H.  Kerr  & Co.,  175  Dear- 
born St.,  Chicago.  Price,  10  cts. 

October , 1883. 

The  preceding  pages  have  been  revised  to  date  so  far 
as  they  relate  to  prices  and  to  the  names  and  addresses 
of  Publishers.  Since  the  publication  of  these  Outlines 
there  have  appeared  the  following  books  of  interest  to 
students  of  Longfellow. 

Samuel  Longfellow’s  “ Life  of  Henry  Wadsworth 
Longfellow.  With  extracts  from  his  Journal  and  Cor- 
respondence.” (Houghton,  Mifflin  & Co.,  Boston.  3 
vols.  $6.00.) 

E.  C.  Stedman’s  “Poets  of  America,”  containing  the 
Century  article  referred  to  on  page  iv.  (Houghton, 
Mifflin  & Co.  $2.25.) 

Longfellow’s  “ Complete  Poetical  and  Prose  Works.” 
New  Riverside  Edition , from  new  electrotype  plates. 
In  eleven  volumes,  crown  8vo.  Volumes  1,  2.  Prose 
Works.  Volumes  3—8.  Poetical  Works.  Volumes  9- 
11.  Translation  of  Dante.  (Houghton,  Mifflin  & Co. 
$16.50.  See  page  47.) 

June , 1887. 


♦ • INDEX. 

♦ — 

PAGE 

These  Outlines:  Study-Helps  and  Methods iii 

I.  The  Man,  his  Home,  and  his  Friends. 

(1.)  Cambridge  . 9 

(2.)  The  Home 10 

(3.)  His  Friends 11 

(4.)  Among  his  Books 13 

(5.)  His  Travels 14 

(6.)  From  Boyhood  to  Old  Age  . . ' 15 

II.  Evangeline. 

(1.)  “ In  the  Acadian  Land  and  the  Exile  ....  17 

(2.)  Evangeline 18 

(3.)  Nature  in  the  Poem  and  the  Poet 19 

III.  Hiawatha. 

(1.)  Sources  of  the  Poem 20 

(2.)  Hiawatha  . . . 20 

(3.)  Other  Legends . 21 

IV.  The  Puritans.  Longfellow  as  Poet  of  American  History. 

(1.)  The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish 22 

(2.)  JohnEndicott  23 

(3.)  Giles  Corey 24 

(4.)  Short  Poems  of  our  History 25 

V.  Medieval  Legends. 

(1.)  The  Golden  Legend 26 

(2.)  Shorter  Legends 29 

VI.  Seaside  and  Fireside. 

(1.)  The  Building  of  the  Ship 30 

(2.)  The  Hanging  of  the  Crane 31 

(3.)  Keramos 32 

VII.  God. 

(1.)  The  Presence  in  Nature 33 

(2.)  The  Eternal  Goodness  in  History  and  Life  ....  33 

(3.)  The  Over-Soul  within  the  Soul 34 


Vlll 


INDEX. 


VIII.  Man.  page 

(1.)  Character,  — its  Making  . 35 

(2.)  Heroes  and  Saints 36 

(3.)  The  Christ  .37 

(4.)  The  Immortal  Life  38 

IX.  Brotherhood. 

(1. ) With  the  Lowly  and  Oppressed  39 

(2.)  Peace  on  Earth . 39 

(3.)  The  Universal  Church 39 

X.  The  Poet.  His  Inspiration  and  his  Ministry. 

(1.)  Longfellow  as  Poet  Laureate  41 

(2.)  As  Poet  Welcome  . - „ . * 44 

(3.)  As  Poet  Familiar . . 45 


STUDIES  IN  LONGFELLOW 


“ His  gracious  'presence  upon  earth 
Was  as  a fire  upon  a hearth  ; 

As  pleasant  songs , at  morning  sung , 

The  words  that  dropped  from  his  sweet  tongue 
Strengthened  our  hearts  ; or,  heard  at  night, 
Made  all  our  slumbers  soft  and  light. 

Where  is  he?” 


“ He  has  moved  a little  nearer 
To  the  Master  of  all  music. 

To  the  Master  of  all  singing  I ” 


I. 

THE  MAN,  HIS  HOME,  AND  HIS  EEIENDS. 

(1.)  Cambridge. 

“ The  doors  are  all  wide  open;  at  the  gate 
The  blossomed  lilacs  counterfeit  a blaze , 

And  seem  to  warm  the  air  ; a dreamy  haze 
Hangs  o'er  the  Brighton  meadows  like  a fate, 

And  on  their  margin,  with  sea-tides  elate , 

The  flooded  Charles , as  in  the  happier  days , 

Writes  the  last  letter  of  his  name.” 


PAGE 

( . 

PAGE 

To  the  River  Charles  . 

. 38 

Village  Blacksmith  . . . 

36 

It  is  not  Always  May  . 

. 37 

From  my  Arm-Chair  . . . 

395 

Bridge  ....... 

In  Churchyard  at  Cambridge 

214 

Three  Friends,  IV.,  V.  . 

. 364 

Herons  of  Elmwood  . . . 

372 

Afternoon  in  February  . 

. 87 

St.  John’s,  Cambridge  . . . 

384 

10 


THE  HOME. 


Conversation . — Can  you  find  the  College  anywhere 
in  the  Poems  ? Why,  — is  there  no  poetry  about  that  ? 
(See  Hyperion,  60.)  To  see  Longfellow  as  Professor, 
look  at  Life,  42  ; and  hear  the  Cambridge  neighbors  talk 
about  him,  in  Life,  156,  243,  — and  234.  For  Village 
Blacksmith,  see  Life,  192  ; and  the  story  of  the  Arm- 
Chair  in  Life,  118,  247.  Other  glimpses  of  Charles 
River  in  Hyperion,  195-197,  294.  Old  Cambridge 
charmingly  described  in  Lowell’s  “ Fireside  Travels,” 
and  in  Holmes’s  “ Poet  at  the  Breakfast  Table,  p.  11. 
“ Elmwood  ” is  Lowell’s  home,  not  far  from  Longfel- 
low’s, on  the  way  to  Mount  Auburn,  that  “ City  of  the 
Dead  ” (364),  towards  which  the  “ shadows  pass  ” (p. 
87). 

(2.)  The  Home. 

1 1 Once , ah , once  within  these  walls , 

One  whom  memory  oft  recalls , 

The  Father  of  his  Country  dwelt." 

“ Grave  Alice,  and  laughing  Allegra , 

And  Edith  with  golden  hair." 


PAGE 

To  a Child 82 

Children  ........  224 

Children’s  Hour 225 

Weariness 228 

Castle-Builder  . . . . . 229 

To-morrow 321 

Shadow 367 

Footsteps  op  Angels  ...  4 

Resignation 129 

Two  Angels 215 


See  also  “Among 


page 

Haunted  Chamber  ....  228 
Old  Clock  on  Stairs,  etc. 

89,  321,  383 


From  my  Arm-Chair  ....  395 

Iron  Pen  396 

My  Cathedral 400 

Moonlight 409 

Golden  Mile-Stone  ....  220 
Song 379 


Books,”  p.  13. 


Conversation . — “ The  history  of  innumerable  house- 
holds ” in  so  many  of  these  Home  poems  ! What  won- 
der they  made  their  writer  a people’s  poet ! Have  you 
seen  Read’s  picture  of  the  three  girls  ? Why  are  all 


HIS  FRIENDS. 


11 


fathers  and  mothers,  poets,  — or  are. n’t  they;  Home 
and  Children  as  sources  of  poetry,  in  old  time  and  new. 

To  watch  Longfellow  with  children,  see  Life,  122- 
125,  173,  179, # 191,  241 ; and  then,  on  310,  read  Whit- 
tier’s verses  called  “ The  Poet  and  the  Children.”  Foot- 
steps of  Angels  refers  to  his  young  wife,  who  died  but 
four  years  after  their  marriage  ; and  in  Two  Angels,  the 
“ friend  ” was  his  neighbor,  the  poet  Lowell,  whose  wife 
died  on  the  night  when  a child  was  born  to  Longfellow. 
A,  but  not  the , clock  stands  on  his  staircase-landing ; for 
the  clock,  see  Life,  71 ; the  “ ship  ” clock  (383)  is  in  his 
study ; and  listen  to  the  other  clocks  in  Poems,  299, 
316,  408.  The  Iron  Pen  was  given  him  at  a garden- 
party  of  school-girls,  who  had  come  to  visit  his  house. 
The  romantic  story  of  the  old  house  has  been  often  told, 
as  in  Life,  46-54;  in  “ Scribner’s  Monthly”  for  Nov., 
1878  ; by  G.  W.  Curtis,  in  “Homes  of  American  Au- 
thors ; ” and  in  Drake’s  “ Historic  Fields  and  Mansions 
of  Middlesex,”  ch.  13.  And  now  to  call  on  the  Poet  in 
his  home,  read  Life,  172-180.  Let  us  seat  ourselves  in 
the  study  and  look  about : what  poems,  besides  those 
named,  are  in  any  way  suggested  ? 

(3.)  His  Friends. 

“ The  noble  three , 

Who  half  my  life  were  more  than  friends  to  me. 

I most  of  all  remember  the  divine 

Something , that  shone  in  them.” 

PAGE  PAGE 

Gleam  of  the  Sunshine  . . 78  Three  Friends  (Felton,  Agas- 

Open  Window 132  siz,  Sumner) 364 

Fiftieth  Birthday  (Agassiz)  . 224  Herons  of  Elmwood  (Lowell) 

Noel  (Agassiz) 323  216,  372 

Hawthorne 319  In  Churchyard  at  T.  (Irving)  380 

Charles  Sumner  . . . . . 358  Three  Silences  (Wliittier) . . 382 


12 


HIS  FRIENDS. 


PAGE  PAGE 

Wapentake  (Tennyson)  . . . 385  Meeting . 229 

Bayard  Taylor  . . . * . . 394  Memories 414 

Burial  of  Poet  (R.  H.  Dana)  401 

Auf  Wiedersehen  (J.  T.  Fields)  405  Endymion.  36 

From  the  French.  ....  412 


Dedication  to  Seaside  and  The  Love-Poems  in  Hiawatha, 


Fireside 121  Wayside  Inn,  Michael  An- 

Fere  of  Driftwood  . . ‘ . . 129  gelo,  etc. 


Preludes  and  Interludes  to  Wayside  Inn,  232-316. 

The  story-tellers  around  the  fireside  are  said  to  be,  — 

Squire , Lyman  Howe  ; Student , H.  W.  Wales  j Sicilian , Luigi  Monti ; Theo- 
logian, Prof.  Treadwell ; Poet , T.  W.  Parsons ; Musician , Ole  Bull ; Spanish 
Jew , a Boston  dealer  in  Oriental  goods. 

Conversation . — Longfellow’s  lovableness  : see  Low- 
ell’s u Fable  for  Critics,”  p.  142,  and  bis  “ To  H.  W. 
L. Holmes’s  “ To  H.  W.  Longfellow ; ” and  tributes  of 
other  fellow-poets.  Crayon  portraits  of  Sumner,  Emer- 
son, Hawthorne,  Felton,  and  himself,  all  as  young  men, 
hang  on  his  study-walls  : trace  what  those  five  friends, 
those  five  young  heads,  have  done  to  shape  American  lit- 
erature and  fife ! For  his  early  praise  of  Hawthorne,  see 
Drift-Wood,  115,  — a book-notice,  which  thenceforth 
bound  the  two  classmates  in  close  intimacy.  A poet’s 
two  circles,  — those  whom'  he  knows,  and  those  who 
know  him.  He  wrote  many  poems  of  friendship,  many 
of  sympathy,  many  of  love  ; but  any  “ love-poems,”  save 
those  in  prose  (Hyperion,  Bk.  III.,  IV.),  or  else  trans- 
lated ? 

For  the  old  Wayside  Inn  at  Sudbury,  and  Longfel- 
low’s poetic  lease  of  it  for  the  imaginary  brotherhood, 
see  Drake’s  “ Historic  Fields  and  Mansions  of  Middle- 
sex,” ch.  19,  and  “ Harper’s  Monthly,”  Sept.,  1880 ; 
also,  T.  W.  Parsons’s  opening  poem  in  his  “ Old  House 
at  Sudbury.”  There  was  a real  fireside  circle  there  of 
some  of  these  friends,  but  Ole  Bull  and  the  Jew  and 
Longfellow  himself  were  not  of  it. 


AMONG  HIS  BOOKS. 


13 


(4.)  Among  His  Books. 

“ The  love  of  learning , the  sequestered  nooks , 
And  all  the  sweet  serenity  of  hooks.” 


PAGE  PAGE 

Day  is  Done  ......  87  Keats 366 

Wind  over  Chimney  ....  320  Robert  Burns 397 

Travels  by  Fireside  . , . 359  Dante 17,  91,  322,  435 


To  Old  Danish  Song-Book  . 88  Michael  Angelo  . 368,  392,  415 

Oliver  Basselin 217  Hermes  Trismegistus  . . . 402 

Chaucer  365  Translations 

Shakespeare  ....  365,409  23,93,  135,387-394,  412 

Milton  .........  365  My  Books 414 

Conversation . — What  English  poets  were  living,  and 
what  American  authors  were  known,  in  1833,  when 
Longfellow  published  his  first  little  book  of  poetry, — 
the  Coplas  de  Manrique  ? Margaret  Fuller  called  his 
early  poems  largely  “ exotic.”  “ Longfellow’s  mission, 
— the  binding  back  of  America  to  the  Old  World  taste 
and  imagination.  Our  true  rise  of  Poetry  may  be  dated 
from  his  method  of  exciting  an  interest  in  it,”  — from  a 
light  beyond  the  sea.  . . . “A  good  borrower.”  . . . 
“ The  world  of  books  was  to  him  the  real  world.  If 
he  had  been  banished  from  his  library,  his  imagination 
would  have  been  blind  and  deaf  and  silent.”  (E.  C. 
Stedman.)  Are  there  any  great  writers  who  are  not 
“ good  borrowers  ” ? Do  you  believe  that  that  “ ban- 
ishment” would  have  so  unmade  our  Poet  ? 

For  Longfellow’s  study-paths,  see  the  Wayside  Inn 
“ student,”  p.  233,  and  the  many  sources  of  those  Inn 
tales ; also  Hyperion,  87,  98,  296,  and  37,  160,  247 ; 
also  Drift-Wood ; and  his  “ Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe,” 
translated  from  ten  different  languages.  If  no  more,  at 
least  look  over  his  translation  of  Dante,  with  its  wealth 
of  Notes  and  Essays.  What  two  great  Old  World  poems, 


14 


HIS  TRAVELS. 


besides  the  Dante,  have  been  translated  by  American 
poets  ? What  four  other  “ collections  ” of  poetry  have 
been  made  by  our  elder  poets  ? For  Longfellow’s  special 
influence  on  American  literature,  and  his  u binding  us 
back  ” to  Germany  (as  Irving  to  England  ?),  see  Life, 
33,  61,  261 ; Steelman’s  article  in  the  “ Century,”  Oct., 
1883,  p.  926  ; also,  his  two  articles  in  “ Scribner’s,” 
Aug.  and  Oct.,  1881,  on  the  Rise  of  Poetry  in  America. 
The  other  sense  in  which  an  Englishman  wrote  of  Long- 
fellow, as . 

" The  bard  whose  sweet  songs,  more  than  aught  beside, 

Have  bound  two  worlds  together.” 


(5.)  His  Travels. 

u In  fancy  I can  hear  again 
The  Alpine  torrent's  roar , 

The  mule-bells  on  the  hills  of  Spain , 
The  sea  at  Elsinore. 

“ I see  the  convent's  gleaming  trail 
Rise  from  its  groves  of  pine , 

And  toicers  of  old  cathedrals  tall, 
And  castles  by  the  Rhine.” 


PAGE 

Cabillon 76 

Belfry  of  Bruges  ....  77 

Nuremberg 79 

Strasbueg  . . G.  L.  7-10,  S3-S7 
Black  Forest  . . G.  L.  109-112 

Switzerland  . . G.  L.  150-160 

Genoa G.  L.  166-172 

To  the  Riyer  Rhone  . . . 382 


PAGE 

Castles  in  Spain 373 

Travels  by  the  Fireside  . . 359 

Cadenabbia 359 

Monte  Casino 360 

Amat.fi 361 

Florence.  . 321,  368,  437,  45S-9 

Venice 381 

Rome 449-456,  460-1 


Conversation . — The  best  picture  among  these  ? Does 
Art  seem  to  have  attracted  Longfellow  ? Nuremberg, 
a poem  to  illustrate,  verse  by  verse,  with  photographs. 
Did  the  Poet  find  his  own  land  so  lovably  picturesque  ? 
For  ruins  he  had  to  take  the  stone  walls  of  New  Eng- 
land! (See  142,  195,  246.)  Does  not  the  American 


FROM  BOYHOOD  TO  OLD  AGE . 


15 


find  more  poetry  than  the  European,  in  the  historic  and 
traditional?  If  yes,  why?  Books  or  travel,  — which 
educates  one  the  more?  For  other  reminiscences  of 
travel,  see  Outre-Mer  (France,  Spain,  Italy),  written  af- 
ter his  first  trip  to  Europe ; and  Hyperion  (the  Rhine, 
Tyrol,  Switzerland),  written  after  his  second;  and  the 
Swedish  village-scenes  in  the  Notes  to  Poems,  p.  472. 
“ A good  thing  when  a romance  (Hyperion)  has  a per- 
manent place  among  the  guide-books.”  (T.  W.  Higgin- 
son.) 


(6.)  From  Boyhood  to  Old  Age. 


“ But  to  act , that  each  to-morrow 
Find  us  farther  than  to-day .” 

“ Not  the  sun  that  used  to  be, 

Not  the  tides  that  used  to  run  ! ” 


My  Lost  Youth 
Ropewalk 

K^ramos  (first  and  last 
stanzas) 

Parker  Gleaveland  (College) 
Prelude  to  Voices  op  Night 

Psalm  op  Life 

Light  op  Stars 

Rainy  Day 

Builders  

Ladder  op  St.  Augustine  . 
Something  Left  Undone  . . 

Weariness 

Changed  

See  also  “The  Home,”  p. 


PAGE 

219 

220 

368 
381 
. 1 
. 2 
. 3 
. 37 
130 
212 

227 

228 
229 


Aftermath 

Palingenesis  .... 
Bridge  op  Cloud  . . . 
Wind  oyer  Chimney 
Divina  Commedia  (I.-V.) 
Morituri  Salutamus 
Harvest  Moon  . . . 

Holidays 

Ultima  Thule  (Dedication) 

Elegiac 

Personal  Poems  .... 


PAGE 

. 231 
. 317 
. 318 
. 320 
. 322 
. 354 
. 382 
. 385 
. 394 
. 398 
413-4 


His  Last  Words,  Prophecies  ! 415,  411 


10,  above  ; and  “The  Poet,”  p.  41  below. 


Conversation . — Should  you  call  him  self-revealing,  or 
self-hiding,  in  his  poems  ? “A  man  of  deep  reserves.” 
(C.  E.  Norton.)  “ The  hospitality  (in  his  poems)  that 
invites  the  whole  world  home  is  exquisitely  proud  and 
shy.”  (W.  D Howells.)  Yet  if  you  knew  nothing  of 


16 


FROM  BOYHOOD  TO  OLD  AGE. 


his  nature  or  his  literary  life,  what  could  you  read  of 
each  in  his  works  ? And  what  in  his  face  ? (See  Life, 
148.)  In  the  poems,  what  inward  struggles  or  tempta- 
tions do  you  trace  ? “Not  man  and  poet,  hut  a poetical 
man.”  (0.  B.  Frothingham.)  “Beautiful  and  ample 
as  the  expression  of  himself  was,  it  fell  far  short  of  the 
truth.  The  man  was  more  and  better  than  the  poet.” 
For  other  hints  about  his  early  inner  life,  see  Hyperion, 
Bk.  I.,  ch.  1,  3,  7,  8 ; Bk.  II.,  ch.  10  ; Bk.  III. ; Bk. 
IV.,  ch.  8,  9 ; and  the  mottoes  prefixed  to  Hyperion 
(378)  and  Kavanagh.  Hyperion  is  in  some  degree 
based  on  fact:  “Paul  Flemming”  is  a shadow  of  the 
Poet  himself  ; the  first  chapter  refers  to  his  young  wife, 
who  died  when  they  were  abroad  ; and  “ Mary  Ashbur- 
ton” is  the  lady  whom  he  afterwards  married.  The 
translation  of  Dante  was  the  work  into  which  he  bore 
his  second  great  sorrow,  her  death ; and  in  the  passion- 
ate series  of  Dante’s  sonnets  (p.  322),  which  made  his 
preludes  to  the  three  parts  of  the  poem,  do  we  not  hear 
an  exquisite  undertone  as  if  from  his  own  experience  ? 
(“  My  burden,”  “ agonies,”  “ she  stands  before  thee,” 
“ benedictions.”)  For  a word  about  this  sorrow,  “ ever 
abiding,  but  veiled,”  and  the  still  “ sweeter  manhood  ” 
born  of  it,  see  Life,  56,  and  Lowell’s  “ To  H.  W.  L.,” 
and  perhaps  Palingenesis  and  Bridge  of  Cloud,  317-8. 
Serenity  as  a sign  of  strength  : is  it  always  that  ? Is  it 
mainly  the  fruit  of  temperament  or  of  victory  ? When 
does  one  begin  to  feel  the  “ change  ” in  sun  and  tide  ? 
Do  poets  (compare  Wordsworth,  Holmes,  Whittier)  feel 
it  more  and  earlier  than  others  ? 

For  old  Portland,  see  Life,  19-24.  For  his  first  boy- 
poem  in  print,  see  Life,  254.  Other  boy -poems  are 
printed  in  Life,  335-352.  These  and  the  “ Earlier 


EVANGELINE . 


17 


Poems  ” as  published  (Poems,  p.  6)  are  largely  about 
Nature,  and  sound  like  Bryant.  The  Prelude  to  Voices 
of  the  Night  (p.  1)  seems  to  mark  a real  change  and 
deepening  of  his  poetic  consciousness,  — “ The  land  of 
Song  within  thee  lies,”  — which  gave  us  a new  poet. 
For  personal  origin  of  Psalm  of  Life,  see  Life,  181.  For 
origin  of  Morituri  Salutamus,  see  Life,  107.  Stedman 
calls  the  poem  “a  model  of  its  kind;”  C.  C.  Everett 
says,  “ Perhaps  the  grandest  hymn  to  Age  ever  written.” 
Do  you  like  it  so  well  as  they  ? With  Loss  and  Gain, 
p.  413,  compare  Whittier’s  “ My  Triumph.”  Note  the 
glad  prophecy  with  which  both  of  his  last  two  poems 
close!  (Pp.  415,  411.) 

Can  you  catch  the  echoes  of  his  prose  in  his  verse  ? 
e.  g.,  with  Prelude,  p.  1,  compare  Hyperion,  78 ; with 
Psalm  of  Life,  and  Wind  over  Chimney,  compare  Hype- 
rion, 84-86 ; and  Hyperion,  158,  with  Michael  Angelo, 
p.  467. 

Can  you  find  the  lines  chosen  above  as  motto  for  our 
Poet,  — “ His  gracious  presence,”  etc.  ? Would  you  have 
chosen  those  lines  for  motto,  or  four  verses  on  p.  87  ; 
or  the  passage  on  pp.  154-5;  or  nine  lines  on  p.  233  ; 
or  sixteen  on  p.  234 ; or  six  on  pp.  380-1  ; or  four  in 
G.  L.  7 6,  or  nine  in  G.  L.  183-4  ; or  still  others  ? How 
many  of  these  unconscious  self-portraits  there  are ! 


II. 

EVANGELINE. 

(1.)  “In  the  Acadian  Land:”  ahd  the  Exile. 

First  Part  (p.  95). 

Conversation.  — Which  is  the  prettiest  of  these  vil- 
lage-scenes,— indoors,  and  out-of-doors?  Was  Acadian  . 
2 . 


i s 


EVANGELINE. 


life  really  so  idyllic,  and  Puritan  life  comparatively 
tragic,  do  you  suppose  ? If  yes,  what  made  the  differ- 
ence ? Facts  and  a poet,  — is  all  the  beauty  which  he 
sees,  in  the  facts  ? Was  there  any  possible  justification 
for  the  English  atrocity  ? 

For  the  story,  see  Bancroft’s  “ United  States,”  1883 
edit.,  vol.  ii.,  425-434.  For  the  origin  of  the  poem,  see 
Life,  73.  For  Acadie,  see  C.  D.  Warner’s  “ Baddeck.” 
The  poem  is  published  in  a pamphlet,  with  notes,  as 
“ Riverside  Literature  Series,”  No.  1.  (Houghton,  Mif- 
flin & Co.,  Boston.  15  cts.) 

The  hexameter  in  English  verse,  — why  so  little  used  ? 
Where  else  does  Longfellow  use  it  ? Who  besides  him 
has  used  it  ? May  not  that  canto  of  “ Frithiof ’s  Saga,” 
translated  in  Drift-Wood,  p.  74,  have  suggested  the 
Evangeline  hexameters  to  him  ? Does  it  fit  well  this 
theme?  “ The  tranquil  current  of  these  brimming, 
slow-moving,  soul-satisfying  lines.”  Its  “ mournfully 
rolling  cadence.”  See  p.  410  ; and  what  Lowell  says 
about  it  in  “ Fable  for  Critics,”  142 ; and  Stedman’s 
article  in  the  “ Century,”  Oct.,  1883,  p.  931. 

(2.)  Evangeline. 

Second  Part  (p.  107). 

“ When  she  had  passed,  it  seemed  like  the  ceasing  of  exquisite  music.” 

“ Sat  by  some  nameless  grave , and  thought  that  perhaps  in  its  bosom 
He  was  already  at  rest,  and  she  longed  to  slumber  beside  him.” 

Conversation . — Is  the  poem  chiefly  a character,  a 
story,  or  a series  of  beautiful  pictures,  to  you  ? Should 
you  call  it  an  epic,  an  idyl,  or  a tragedy  ? Is  the  maiden 
herself,  as  a character,  strongly  outlined  ? Does  she  re- 
call any  of  Shakespeare’s  heroines  ? Can  you  see  her 
face,  — does  the  poet  show  it  ? Boughton’s  picture,  and 
Faed’s,  — which  do  you  like  best?  Darley’s  illustra^ 


EVANGELINE. 


19 


tions.  Suppose  you  name  the  ten  parts  of  the  poem  ; 
and  in  each  part  choose  your  lines  for  a picture  of  Evan- 
geline. Try  to  analyze  the  charm  of  the  poem : why  its 
universal  popularity?  (e.  g.,  six  German  translations, 
three  French,  three  Swedish,  three  Portuguese.)  “ Evan- 
geline, his  master-piece  among  the  longer  poems,”  says 
Dr.  Holmes  ; and  Howells  adds,  “ if  not  the  best  poem 
of  our  age : ” say  you  so  ? It  is  said  to  have  been 
Longfellow’s  own  favorite  among  his  poems.  Which  lines 
most  cling  to  your  memory,  and  what  passages  do  you 
love  best  ? Compare  with  it  Goethe’s  u Hermann  and 
Dorothea,”  and  Clough’s  “ Bothie  of  Toper-na-Fuosich,” 

— the  former  perhaps  inspiring,  the  latter  inspired  by, 
Evangeline. 

(3.)  Nature  in  the  Poem  and  the  Poet. 

Conversation.  — The  finest  landscapes  in  the  whole 
poem  ? Can  you  tell  which  Longfellow  had  seen,  from 
those  which  he  knew  by  books  ? Had  he  seen  any  of 
them  ? Is  “ word-painting  ” chiefly  the  effect  of  sight, 
or  of  imagination?  Does  he  picture  Nature  vividly? 
Does  he  give  its  repression  or  its  impression  ? Does  he 
love  Nature  for  itself,  or  for  what  it  symbolizes  to  him  ? 
(See  Hyperion,  28,  163  ; also  Life,  65,  178,  192,  265.) 
What  moves  him  most  in  Nature,  — sky,  sea,  mountains, 
forests,  or  fields  ? And  what  aspect  does  he  most  feel, 

— its  gladness,  beauty,  peace,  or  strength  ? Are  not  his 
genre  pictures  (see  also  Miles  Standish)  much  finer 
than  his  landscapes,  — and  why  ? Is  it  the  noblest  use 
of  landscape  in  art  to  treat  it  as  background  to  human 
figures  ? Is  Nature  apt  to  intensify,  or  to  change,  your 
mood?  (See  p.  114,  and  Kavanagh,  ch.  1.)  For  other 
pictures  of  the  seasons  (p.  98)  see  5-7,  91,  382  ; Kava- 
nagh, 67,  102,  133,  167  ; and  Hyperion,  91,  195. 


20 


HI  A WAT  HA. 


III. 

HIAWATHA. 

“ Legends  and  traditions , 
With  the  odors  of  the  forest, 

With  the  dew  and  damp  of  meadows, 
With  the  curling  smoke  of  wigwams , 
With  the  rushing  of  great  rivers .” 

(1.)  Sources  of  the  Poem. 


PAGE  PAGE 

Introduction 141  Peace-Pipe  (I.) 142 


Conversation . — Sketch  the  Civilizer  and  Saviour 
myths  in  various  races,  — Osiris,  Hercules,  the  Christ, 
etc.  For  Hiawatha  as  confounded  with  the  Hero-God 
of  Light,  — “ the  fundamental  myth  ” of  many  Indian 
tribes,  — see  Brinton’s  “ American  Hero-Myths,”  or  ch. 
6 of  his  u Myths  of  the  New  World.”  For  the  Iro- 
quois Hiawatha  as  the  half-historic  founder  of  the  Five 
Nations’  Confederacy,  see  Schoolcraft’s  “ Hiawatha  Le- 
gends,” p.  188  (J.  B.  Lippincott  & Co.,  Philadelphia)  ; 
or,  better,  Hale’s  “ Lawgiver  of  the  Stone  Age,”  in 
“ Proceedings  of  Amer.  Assoc,  for  Adv.  of  Science,”  vol. 
xxx.,  1881.  For  the  little  Indian  Pipe-Stone  Quarry  in 
Minnesota,  see  “American  Naturalist,”  July,  1883.  For 
a general  survey  of  Indians  and  their  life,  see  Bancroft’s 
“ United  States,”  1883  edit.,  vol.  ii.,  86-136  ; also 
Parkman’s  “ Jesuits  in  North  America,”  pp.  xix.~ 
lxxxix. 


(2.)  Hiawatha. 

Childhood  (III.)  . 146 

Father  and  Son  (IV.) 149 


His  Gifts  to  Men. 

PAGE 

Minnehaha. 

PAGE 

The  Corn-Fields  (V.,  XIII. ) 151, 170 

■ Meeting  (IV.  end) 

...  151 

Sailing  (VII.)  . . . . 

Wooing  (X.).  . . . 

Fishing  (VIII. ) . . . . 

. . 157 

Wedding  Feast  (XI.) 

...  . 164 

Healing  (IX.,  XV.)  . . 

159,  174 

The  Ghosts  (XIX. ) . 

Picture-Writing  (XIV.) . 

. . 172 

The  Famine  (XX.)  . 

. . .185 

The  White  Man’s  Foot  (XXI.)  . 186 

Departure  (XXII.)  . . 189 


HIAWATHA. 


21 


Conversation.  — What  legends  in  other  faiths  akin 
to  some  of  these  ? For  the  Indian  sources  of  these 
poems,  see  Schoolcraft’s  “ Hiawatha  Legends,”  first  pub- 
lished in  1839  as  “ Algic  Researches  : ” why  did  nobody 
read  “ Algic  Researches,”  and  everybody  read  Hiawa- 
tha ? (See  Life,  84-7.)  Ideal  and  real  Indians.  Long- 
fellow’s Indian  “none  the  less  typical  because  ideal- 
ized : ” can  that  be  true  ? Our  “ Indian  Problem.”  A 
nineteenth-century  jpke,  — “ The  only  good  Indian  is  a 
dead  Indian  ! ” See  Mrs.  H.  H.  Jackson’s  “ Century  of 
Dishonor.”  Read  Longfellow’s  Revenge  of  Rain-in-the- 
Face,  p.  375.  The  Falls  of  Minnehaha  are  on  a tiny 
stream  near  the  Mississippi  River,  between  St.  Paul  and 
Minneapolis. 

(3.)  Other  Legends. 

PAGE  PAGE 

The  Four  Winds  (II. ) . . .144  Pau-Puk-Keewis  (XVI.)  . . . 176 
Hiawatha’s  Friends  Hunting  op  Pau-Puk-Keewis 

(VI.,  XV.,  XVIII.)  154,  174,  182  (XVII.) 178 

Son  of  the  Evening  Star 
(XII.)  . 167 

Conversation.  — Which  three  poems  do  you  enjoy 
most  in  the  whole  series  ? For  Longfellow’s  other  Indian 
poems,  see  pp.  10,  85,  116,  288,  375.  Compare  Bryant’s 
and  Whittier’s  Indian  work  : which  of  the  three  poets 
is  the  most  successful  with  the  theme  ? Is  Hiawatha 
a great  poem  ? “ The  poet’s  masterpiece,”  say  O.  B. 

Frothingham  and  English  Mr.  Trollope ; “ An  example 
of  poetic  power  misapplied,  — a weakening  influence,  on 
American  literature,”  says  H.  Norman  : and  now  what 
say  you?  What  makes  its  fascination?  Longfellow’s 
own  fourfold  answer  in  the  Introduction.  As  to  theme, 
parallelisms,  and  metre,  compare  the  Finnish  “ Kalevala.” 
(See  Life,  87-90.)  “ This  monotonous  time-beat,”  is 


22 


MILES  STANDISH . 


it  not  well  fitted  for  telling  these  primitive  legends  ? 
Indian,  Norse,  and  Greek  mythology,  — try  to  charac- 
terize each  in  a few  words.  Yesterday’s  religion,  — 
to-day’s  poetry : is  that  a law  ? What,  then,  of  to- 
day’s religion  ? As  poetry  thus  increases,  does  religion 
fade,  or  freshen  ? 


IV. 

THE  PURITANS. 

LONGFELLOW  AS  POET  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 

(1.)  The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish  (p.  191). 

“ Archly  the  maiden  smiled , and,  with  eyes  overrunning  with  laughter , 

Said , in  a tremulous  voice , ‘ Why  don't  you  speak  for  yourself , John  ?'" 

Conversation.  — Puritans  and  Indians.  Early  rela- 
tions with  the  Indians : are  we  as  just  to  them  as  the 
forefathers  were  ? Were  the  Pilgrims  “ Puritans  ” ? 
The  difference  ? (See  Bacon’s  “ Genesis  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Churches.”)  Compare  with  Evangeline : which 
is  the  stronger  poem  ? which  the  more  interesting 
maiden  ? What  think  you  of  Priscilla’s  application  of 
the  Captain’s  adage  ? For  another  colonial  maiden,  and 
her  square-built  courtship,  read  Elizabeth,  p.  299.  So 
Longfellow  wrote  our  three  poems  of  old-time  love,  — 
French,  Pilgrim,  and  Quaker.  Our  Poet  himself  was 
one  of  the  results  of  Priscilla’s  question,  seven  genera- 
tions afterwards ; and  the  best  blood  of  the  other,  the 
Puritan,  colony  also  ran  in  him.  If  of  a New  Eng- 
land family,  you  almost  certainly  have  “ Mayflower  ” 
blood  in  you  : have  you  ever  traced  up  the  stream  ? 
Explain  the  Plymouth  scenes,  — the  meeting-house, 


JOHN  ENDICOTT. 


23 


psalm-book,  terrible  winter,  graves  on  the  hill,  Indian 
challenge,  the  Elder,  the  Captain,  John  Alden,  his  bull, 
a Pilgrim’s  home,  etc.  (See  Banvard’s  “ Plymouth  and 
the  Pilgrims  ; ” Drake’s  “ Nooks  and  Corners  of  the 
New  England  Coast,”  ch.  17,  18.)  Boughton’s  pictures 
of  Pilgrim  life,  — “ Priscilla,”  “ Return  of  the  May- 
flower,” “ On  the  Way  to  Meeting.”  This  poem  is  pub-, 
lished  in  “ Riverside  Literature  Series  ” in  two  forms, 
— as  No.  2,  with  notes ; as  No.  3,  cut  and  arranged  for 
private  theatricals : each  15  cts. 

(2.)  John  Endicott  (N.  E.  T , p.  5). 

“ Scourged  in  three  towns  ! ” 

“ The  pointed  gable  and  the  pent-house  door , 

The  meeting-house  with  leaden-latticed  panes , 

The  narrow  thoroughfares , the  crooked  lanes." 

Conversation . — Puritans  and  Quakers.  Was  the 
Quaker  spirit  praiseworthy  ? The  view  then,  and  the 
view  now.  State  the  case,  as  well  as  you  can,  for  each 
party.  The  lesson  from  this  conflict  of  consciences.  The 
tenderness-in-sternness  of  the  Puritan.  Do  you  not  feel 
sympathy  with  Endicott  as  well  as  reverence  for  the 
Quakers  ? Compare  Whittier’s  poems  on  the  same 
theme,  “ Cassandra  Southwick,”  “ In  the  Old  South 
Church,”  “ The  King’s  Missive,”  etc.  See  Hallowell’s 
“ Quaker  Invasion  of  Massachusetts  ; ” and  for  a gen- 
eral sketch  of  the  Quaker  history  and  doctrines,  see  Ban* 
croft’s  “ United  States,”  1883  edition,  vol.  i.  528-51. 


24 


GILES  COREY. 


(3.)  Giles  Corey  (N.  E.  T.,  p.  99). 

“ The  common  madness  of  the  time , 

When,  in  all  lands  that  lie  within  the  sound 
Of  Sabbath  bells , a Witch  was  burned  or  drowned 

Conversation . — Puritans  and  Witches.  The  origin 
of  the  belief  in  witches  ; its  connection  with  the  Bible 
and  with  modern  Spiritualism.  State  the  case  for  the 
Puritans  : the  witches,  victims  of  the  Puritans,  — and 
the  Puritans,  “ victims  of  their  own  times.”  Did  the 
“ witches  ” themselves  believe  in  witchcraft  ? Suppose 
you  had  lived  in  the  seventeenth  century,  would  you  not, 
on  the  whole,  have  chosen  to  be  a Puritan  ? and  if  so, 
would  you  not  have  believed  in  witches  ? and  if  so,  what 
would  you  have  said  in  Salem  in  1692  ? The  lesson  of 
this  tragedy.  (See  Lecky’s  “ Rationalism  in  Europe,” 
ch.  1. ; Lowell’s  “ Among  My  Books  ; ” Upham’s  “ Sar 
lem  Witchcraft.”)  Compare  Whittier’s  poems,  “ Proph- 
ecy of  Samuel  Sewall,”  “ Witch’s  Daughter,”  etc.  Was 
it  worth  while  to  write  these  two  tragedies  ? See  the 
Poet’s  motives  hinted  in  his  Prologues.  As  dramas,  are 
they  successful  ? 

The  Puritan  element  in  American  life,  — its  good  and 
its  harm ; its  prose  and  its  poetry ; its  earnestness  and 
its  quaintness.  (See  Lowell’s  essay  “New  England  Two 
Centuries  ago  ” in  “ Among  my  Books.”)  Compare 
Longfellow’s  three  pictures  of  Puritan  life  — its  sun- 
shine and  its  gloom  — with  Hawthorne’s  pictures  of  the 
same  life.  An  article  on  “The  Puritan  Element  in 
Longfellow,”  in  “ Living  Age,”  No.  2002. 


25 


SHORT  POEMS  OF  OUR  HISTORY, 


(4.)  Short  Poems  of  our  History. 


4‘  Our  hearts , our  hopes , are  all  with  thee  ! 

Our  hearts , our  hopes , our  prayers,  our  tears , 
Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 

Are  all  with  thee,  — are  all  with  thee  ! ” 


PAGE 

Skeleton  in  Armor.  ...  25 

Baron  of  St.  Castine  . . . 288 
Rhyme  of  Sir  Christopher  . 314 

Eliot’s  Oak 381 

Lady  Wentworth  ....  283 
Ballad  of  French  Fleet  . 376 
Paul  Revere’s  Ride  . . . 235 
To  Driving  Cloud  ....  85 

Slave  in  Dismal  Swamp  . . 42 


Slave  Singing 42 

Quadroon  Girl 43 


PAGE 

Warning 44 

Cumberland  ......  226 

Christmas  Bells 319 

Killed  at  the  Ford  . . , 321 

Nameless  Grave 367 

Decoration  Day 408 

Revenge  of  Rain-in-the-Face  375 

Boston 383 

President  Garfield  . , . 408 
— 

Building  of  Ship  (close)  . . 126 


Conversation . — What  makes  a nation’s  history  ro- 
mantic? Is  ours  rich,  or  poor,  in  themes  for  poets? 
For  Longfellow’s  own  answer,  see  Drift-Wood,  120. 
Compare  Longfellow,  Lowell,  and  Whittier,  as  poets  of 
our  history.  Longfellow’s  “ playful  freedom  with  dates 
and  facts  ” (G.  E.  Ellis)  : can  you  point  to  any  in- 
stances ? His  poems  of  Anti-Slavery,  — so  strong,  but 
why  so  few,  and  all  so  early  ? Was  it  from  a love  of 
Peace,  stronger  than  a hatred  of  Oppression  ? Which 
ought  to  have  been  the  stronger  ? Does  Charles  Sum- 
ner’s life-long  friendship  guarantee  the  poet  right  in  this 
matter  ? Patriotism  and  Culture  : the  more  cosmopol- 
itan, the  less  patriotic,  — is  that  a rule  ? “ His  intense 

nationality ; ” “ He  seemed  to  foreigners  the  American 
Laureate  ; ” “ He  is  now  said  to  have  been  the  least  na- 
tional of  our  poets.”  Not  national,  but  simply  human  : 
— which  judgment  is  right?  For  his  own  thought  about 
“ nationality  and  universality  in  literature,”  see  Poems, 


26 


GOLDEN  LEGEND. 


p.  313  ; and  Kavanagh,  pp.  117-20  ; and  “ North 
American  Review,”  xxxiv.  69-78. 

For  origin  of  Skeleton  in  Armor,  see  Life,  237,  182, 
235.  See  how  different  the  “ Voyage  to  Vinland”  be- 
comes in  Lowell’s  Poems.  For  Norsemen  in  America, 
see  Bryant’s  “ United  States,”  vol.  i.  35-63 ; or  Ander- 
son’s “ America  not  Discovered  by  Columbus.”  Has 
Enceladus,  p.  226,  any  under-meaning,  like  the  Warn- 
ing ? Had  Paul  Revere’s  Ride,  written  in  Jan.,  1861, 
an  under-thought?  For  the  Ride,  see  Frothingham’s 
Ci  Siege  of  Boston,”  pp.  51-59 ; and  compare  other  fa- 
mous Rides,  — “ Sheridan’s  Ride,”  by  Buchanan  Read, 
and  Browning’s  “ How  they  Brought  the  Good  News 
fi»om  Ghent  to  Aix  ; ” and  see  p.  377.  For  Nameless 
Grave,  see  Life,  222  ; and  for  the  Garfield  sonnet,  Life, 
152.  The  close  of  Building  of  Ship  came  to  Longfel- 
low while  he  and  Sumner  were  talking  together  during 
the  excitement  over  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Compare 
it  with  Horace,  Bk.  I.,  Ode  XIV.  ; also  Holmes’s  “ Old 
Ironsides.” 


V. 

MEDIAEVAL  LEGENDS. 
(1.)  The  Golden  Legend. 

* ‘ O beauty  of  holiness , 

Of  self-forgetfulness , of  lowliness  1 
The  deed  divine 

Is  written  in  characters  of  gold , 
That  never  shall  grow  old.” 


The  poem  might  be  cut,  arranged,  and  cast  for  an 
evening’s  dramatic  reading,  with  pauses  between  the 
parts  to  explain  historical  allusions  and  to  enjoy  the 


GOLDEN  LEGEND . 


27 


similes,  — some  of  them  little  poems  in  themselves : 
such  allusions  as  will  be  found  on  pages  18,  27,  32,  38, 
42,  44,  49,  85,  114,  133,  138,  150,  154,  161,  171,  173, 
174,  177,  179,  180,  192  ; such  similes  as  those  on  pages 
30,  31,  62,  70,  71,  73,  76,  109,  110,  113,  121,  123, 124 
127,  153,  159,  165,  166,  168,  169,  193. 

Or  another  way  : Let  some  one  sketch  the  legend  and 
its  sources  ; another  tell  how  miracle-plays  rose  and 
grew  into  our  modern  drama,  and  describe  the  Passion 
Play  at  Ober-Ammergau  ; another  speak  of  the  great 
Schools  of  the  ll-14th  centuries  ; another  read  a little 
paper  on  the  Lucifers  of  literature  ; another  be  ready 
with  views  of  Strasburg  Cathedral  and  Holbein’s  “ Dance 
of  Death,”  and  of  convent  scenes  : and  illustrate  all  by 
readings  from  Longfellow  thus  using  the  poem  as  a 
series  of  pictures  of  mediaeval  life,  e.  <7., — 


Cathedral  . . . 

PAGE 

. 7,  74,  83-7 

Refectory 

PAGE 

. 129 

Confessional . . . 

....  55 

The  Penitent 

. 126 

Preaching  . . . 

....  81 

Jolly  Friars  .... 

129-40 

Miracle-Play . . . 

....  89 

Nunnery 

. 141 

Madonna  .... 

. . 164,  188 

Castle 

25,  30 

Relics,  Images  . . 

108,  164,  188 

Minnesinger  and  Crusader 

Pilgrims  .... 

30,  75-8,  142-6,  194 

Dance  of  Death  . 

. . . 150-4 

Scholastics 

Convent  Life : — 

Physicians  , . . . 17, 

28,  176 

Cellar  .... 

Reformers,  — Luther,  p.  ix 

. of 

Scriptorium  . . 

....  118 

“ Second  Interlude.” 

Cloisters  . . . 

....  121 

Conversation. 

— Is  Elsie 

a real  girl  to  you  ? 

Elsie! 

motive,  — did  it  differ  in  any  way  from  Evangeline’s  ? 
Notice  how  much  alike  in  substance,  and  even  in  form, 
the  two  poems  are,  in  spite  of  all  differences.  The 
meaning  of  the  Legend  ? (pp.  197-204.)  Which  of 
the  two  poems  best  illustrates  lines  16,  17,  of  Evange- 
line ? Why  ? Which  do  you  enjoy  the  more  on  the  first 


28 


GOLDEN  LEGEND . 


reading  ? Which  one  keeps  growing  on  you  at  the 
third?  The  Christ  (p.  89),  Elsie,  and  her  parents,  as 
types  of  self-sacrifice  : its  all-conquering  power.  What  is 
the  secret  in  all  44  vicarious  atonements  ” ? and  what  its 
connection  with  the  other  secret  of  self-sacrifice,  in  Matt 
xxiii.  12  ? Do  you  rank  the  Legend  high  as  a drama  ? 
Compare  it  with  Goethe’s  4 4 Faust.” 

The  shadow  of  Death  that  seems  to  haunt  the  poem 
and  the  Middle  Ages  ( e . #.,  see  p.  150),  — whence  came 
it  ? The  all-pervading  mediaeval  belief  in  the  Devil,  — 
whence  came  that,  and  what  came  of  it  ? Compare  Mil- 
ton’s and  Goethe’s  Satans  with  Longfellow’s.  The  last, 
44  the  least  devilish  Devil  ever  conceived  : ” could  our 
Longfellow  have  drawn  a worse  one  ? Is  the  Devil 
handsome,  or  ugly?  Is  the  Devil  dead?  Yesterday’s 
horror,  — to-day’s  joke.  Is  Lucifer’s  argument  (p.  64) 
the  argument  by  which  hunters  justify  their  sport  ? 
Why  not  miracle-plays  now,  if  then  ? and  in  New  York, 
if  in  Ober-Ammergau  ? If  miracle-carols,  why  not  mir- 
acle-plays, at  Christmas  ? For  a fine  prose-setting  to 
Longfellow’s  miracle-play  read  the  Christmas  chapter  in 
Symonds’s  44  Sketches  in  Southern  Europe,”  vol.  i. 

What  is  Longfellow’s  thought  in  linking  the  Divine 
Tragedy,  the  Golden  Legend,  and  the  New  England 
Tragedies  together  into  Christus,  a Mystery  ? Do  the 
Introitus  and  Interludes  explain  it  ? Does  not  the 
Finale?  The  thought  in  an  early  form  dates  hack  in 
his  Journal  to  1841.  Who  was  the  Abbot  Joachim 
of  the  first  Interlude  (p.  153),  and  how  much  truth 
is  there  in  his  idea  of  44 Three  Ages”?  (See  Nean- 
der’s  44  Church  History,”  vol.  iv.  220-232  ; or  Milman’s 
44  Latin  Christianity,”  vii.  29.)  . Roman  Catholicism  and 
Puritanism,  — which  appears  to  the  better  advantage  in 


MEDIAEVAL  LEGENDS . 


29 


Christus  ? Is  each  fairly  represented  ? Suggest  a fourth 
poem  to  represent  to-day's  religion  and  complete  the 
Christus.  Would  Lowell's  “ Cathedral " answer  ? But 
would  not  the  “ Finale  " still  be  that  which  Longfellow 
has  written  ? (N.  E.  T.,  pp.  184-6.) 

(2.)  Shorter  Legends. 

“ Old  legends  of  the  monkish  page, 

Traditions  of  the  saint  and  sage , 

Tales  that  have  the  rime  of  age, 

And  chronicles  of  eld.” 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Saga  of  King  Olaf  : — 

Torquemada  .... 

i.  Challenge  of  Thor  . . 

246 

Kambalu  

ii.  Olaf’s  Return  . . . . 

247 

Cobbler  of  Hagenau 

. . .277 

y.  Skerry  of  Shrieks  . ' . 

249 

Legend  Beautiful 

...  286 

' vi.  Wraith  of  Odin  . . . 

250 

Charlemagne  . . . 

...  294 

ix.  Thangbrand  the  Priest 

253 

Emma  and  Eginhard. 

. . .295 

xii.  Olaf’s  Christmas  . . 

255 

Monk  of  Casal-Maggiore  . . 304 

xiil,  xiv.  Long  Serpent  256, 

257 

SCANDERBEG  .... 

. . .309 

xxi.  Olaf’s  Death-Drink  . 

262 

“In  Mediaeval  Rome”  . . . 357 

xxii.  Nun  of  Nidaros  . 

262 

Dutch  Picture  . . . 

Tegn^r’s  Drapa 

133 

Leap  of  Roushan  Beg 

. . .377 

Skeleton  in  Armor  .... 

25 

Children’s  Crusade  . 

. . .406 

Norman  Baron 

80 

Monk  Felix  .... 

. G.  L.  32 

King  Witlaf’s  Drinking-Horn  132 

Christ  and  Sultan’s 

Daugh- 

Falcon  of  Ser  Federigo  . . 

237 

TER  . 1 

G.  L.  38 

King  Robert  of  Sicily  . . . 

243 

Conversation . — Does  Longfellow  know  the  art  of 
story-telling  ? Has  he  written  true  “ ballads  ” ? What 
is  a u ballad  " ? What  makes  it  so  difficult  for  a modern 
poet  to  write  one  ? The  most  spirited  of  these  stories  ? 
Compare  the  “ Wayside  Inn”  series  with  Boccaccio's 
“ Decamaron,”  Chaucer's  “ Canterbury  Tales,”  Morris’s 
“ Earthly  Paradise.” 

Olaf's  Saga:  its  source  the  old  Icelandic  “Heims- 
kringla,”  for  which  see  Laing’s  “ Sea-Kings  of  Norway.” 
Are  the  metres  adapted  to  the  action  in  the  different 


30 


BUILDING  OF  THE  SHIP. 


ballads  ? Compare  the  “ Frithiof’s  Saga  ” in  Drift- 
W ood,  p.  53  : may  not  that  poem  — its  theme  and  its 
different  metres  — have  suggested  to  Longfellow  his  ? 
Compare  this  spread  of  Christianity  in  northern  Europe 
with  the  spread  of  Mahommedanism  in  northern  Africa. 
(See  Neander’s  “ Church  History,”  vol.  iii.  293-307  ; 
and  Milman’s  “ Latin  Christianity,”  vol.  ii.  150-171.) 

“ Force  rules  the  world  still,”  — “ The  law  of  force  is 
dead  : ” which  is  right,  Thor  or  Tegner  ? With  Tegner’s 
Drapa  compare  Matthew  Arnold’s  “ Balder  Dead  ; ” and 
read  the  story  in  Cox’s  “ Romances  of  the  Middle  Ages,” 
p.  374.  For  King  Robert  of  Sicily,  see  Life,  92,  183; 
and  compare  Browning’s  “ Boy  and  Angel.” 


VI. 

SEASIDE  AND  FIRESIDE 
(1.)  The  Building  of  the  Ship  (p.  122). 

“ Silent , majestical  and  slow, 

The  white  ships  haunt  it  to  and  fro.” 

“ My  soul  is  full  of  longing 
For  the  secret  of  the  sea, 

And  the  heart  of  the  great  ocean 
Sends  a thrilling  pulse  through  me.” 

Conversation . — The  theme  fascinates  Longfellow,  — ■ 
see  pp.  156,  256  : is  it  a memory  of  boyhood  days  in 
Portland?  Notice  the  building  of  the  poem  itself, — 
three  poems  in  one.  Compare  Schiller’s  u Song  of  the 
Bell,”  and  his  three  in  one.  “ Longfellow  not  a poet  of 
Nature,”  unless,  perhaps,  “ justly  called  by  eminence  our 
poet  of  the  Sea  : ” is  Mr.  Stedman  right  in  these  two 
judgments  ? For  other  poems  of  the  Sea,  see 


HANGING  OF  THE  CRANE. 


Sea-Weed  

PAGE 

Elegiac 

PAGE 

Chrysaor 

Tide  Rises,  Tide  Falls  . 

. 400 

Secret  of  the  Sea  .... 

Becalmed  . . . . . 

Twilight 

City  and  Sea  .... 

Lighthouse 

Elegiac  Verse,  I.,  VI.  . 

. 409 

Fire  of  Drift-Wood  . . . 

. 129 

Wreck  of  the  Hesperus  . 

. 27 

Palingenesis 

. 317 

Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  . 

. 127 

Bells  of  Lynn 

. 320 

Phantom  Ship  .... 

. 212 

Milton 

. 365 

Discoverer  of  North  Cape 

. 222 

Sound  of  the  Sea  .... 

. 366 

Ballad  of  Carmilhan  . . 

. 280 

Summer  Day  by  the  Sea 

. 366 

Ballad  of  French  Fleet  . 

. 376 

Tides 

. 367 

Golden  Legend  .... 

166-8 

Dedication  to  Ultima  Thule 

. 394 

John  Endicott  .... 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  few  mountain-glimpses : 
can  you  find  any  except  on  pp.  8,  115,  119,  348,  405, 
464 ; G.  L.,  30,  157  ; Hyperion,  201,  261  ? For  the  ori- 
gin of  Wreck  of  the  Hesperus,  see  Life,  197.  For  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  see  Bancroft’s  “ United  States,”  vol. 
i.  66-9.  If,  as  is  said,  Longfellow  and  Bayard  Taylor 
agreed  in  liking  Chrysaor  best  of  the  shorter  poems,  can 
you  agree  with  them  ? 

(2.)  The  Hanging  of  the  Crane  (p.  852). 

“ Of  love,  that  says  not  mine  and  thine, 

But  ours,  for  ours  is  thine  and  mine.” 

Conversation.  — “ Pendre  la  cremaillere  ” is  the 
French  for  “ house-warming.”  The  dearest  picture  of 
these  six  ? For  other  poems  of  Home,  see  p.  10,  above. 
Is  not  Longfellow,  by  eminence,  our  poet  of  the  Home, 
also  ? What  does  he  lack  to  be  the  poet  of  home-life  ? 
With  the  serial  structure  of  this  poem  compare  his  Bain 
in  Summer,  p.  81 ; Sand  of  the  Desert,  p.  130 ; Rope- 
walk,  p.  220 ; the  close  of  Matthew  Arnold’s  “ Strayed 
Reveller ; ” and  Bryant,  with  whom  it  was  a favorite 
form.  $4000  said  to  have  been  paid  Longfellow  for 
this  poem  : see  Life,  236,  106.  It  is  a good  poem  to 
be  presented  in  tableaux. 


32 


Kti RAMOS. 


(3.)  Keramos  (p.  368). 

“ Vases  and  urns  and  bas-reliefs , 

Memorials  of  forgotten  griefs 

“ The  tiles  that  in  our  nurseries 
Filled  us  with  wonder  and  delight , 

Or  haunted  us  in  dreams  at  nighty 

Conversation . — See  Life,  110-12.  A keramical  hour, 
or  evening,  might  be  planned,  each  one  bringing  what 
pottery  he  can  to  illustrate  the  poem,  and  three  or  four 
persons  reading  short  papers  on  the  art ; tell  about  Pa- 
lissy  and  Della  Robbia,  the  story  of  your  “nursery 
tiles”  (see  p.  82),  and  of  “that  solitary  man,”  etc. 
Read  Keats’s  “ Ode  on  a Grecian  Urn ; ” and  with  the 
potter’s  song  compare  Robert  Browning’s  “ Rabbi  Ben 
Ezra  ” (last  ten  verses),  and  the  pot-talk  of  old  Omar 
Khayyam ; Longfellow’s  own  Drinking  Song,  p.  89  ; and 
read,  as  somewhat  akin  to  all  this,  his  fiery  Casting  of 
the  Statue,  p.  459.  Talk  over  the  lines,  “ Art  is  the 
child  of  Nature,”  to  see  how  far  they  apply  to  the  sev- 
eral arts.  The  “ Longfellow  Jug,”  commemorating  the 
Poet  and  this  poem,  is  sold  by  Richard  Briggs,  287  Wash- 
ington St.,  Boston ; price,  including  expressage  to  any 
place,  $5.00.  See  its  description  in  “Literary  World,” 
Feb.  26, 1881,  p.  86.  This  poem  a fine  one  to  illustrate, 
scene  by  scene,  with  photographs. 


GOD  IN  NATURE  AND  HISTORY.  S3 


VII. 

GOD. 

(1.)  The  Presence  in  Nature. 

“ Into  the  blithe  and  breathing  air, 

Into  the  solemn  wood , 

Solemn  and  silent  everywhere  / 

Nature  with  folded  hands  seemed  there , 
Kneeling  at  her  evening  prayer  ! 

Like  one  in  prayer  I stood.” 


PAGE 


Prelude  to  Voices  ....  1 

Hymn  to  Night 2 

Flowers 4 

Spirit  op  Poetry  ....  9 

L’Enyoi 25 

“While  Evangeline  ” . . 114 

Day  op  Sunshine  ....  227 
Wayside  Inn,  Prelude  III.  . 292 


PAGE 

Wanderer’s  Night-Songs.  . 340 


Masque  op  Pandora  . . 348-9 

St.  John’s,  Cambridge  . . . 384 

Old  St.  David’s 398 

My  Cathedral 400 

Night 401 


“ The  Night  ” . . G.  L.  43,  168 


(2.)  The  Eternal  Goodness  in  History  and  Life. 

“ Love  is  the  root  of  creation  ; God's  essence  ; worlds  without  number 
Lie  in  his  bosom  like  children.” 

“ It  is  Lucifer, 

The  son  of  mystery  ; 

And  since  God  suffers  him  to  be, 

He,  too,  is  God's  minister, 

And  labors  for  some  good 
By  us  not  understood  / ” 

“ Time  has  laid  his  hand 
Upon  my  heart,  gently , not  smiting  it, 

But  as  a harper  lays  his  open  palm 
Upon  his  harp,  to  deaden  its  vibrations.” 


PAGE 

Children  op  Lord’s  Supper  32-3 


Rainy  Day  37 

“God  is  Just” 100 

“ The  'Creator  ” 143 

Two  Angels 215 

Nun  op  Nidaros 262 

Christmas  Bells 319 

Palingenesis 317 


To-morrow  . .....  321 


Shadow  

PAGE 

Nature . 

. 380 

K^ramos  (Potter’s  Song)  . 

. 368 

“This  life  of  ours” 

D.  T.  22 ; G.  L.  109-10,  124 
Retribution  . 94,  346,  351,  399  ; 

' G.  L.  66,  79,  182,  197-200 
Abbot  Joachim  . . D.  T.  155-9 
St.  John  ...  N.  E.  T.  183-6 


3 


34 


THE  OVER-SOUL  WITHIN  THE  SOUL. 


(3.)  The  Over-Soul  within  the  Soul. 

“ As  the  flowing  of  the  ocean  fills 
Each  creek  and  branch  thereof , and  then  retires , 
Leaving  behind  a sweet  and  wholesome  savor  ; 

So  doth  the  virtue  and  the  life  of  God 
Flow  evermore  into  the  hearts  of  those 
Whom  he  hath  made  partakers  of  his  nature 


PAGE  PAGE 

Children  op  Lord’s  Supper  29-35  Sound  op  Sea 366 

Evangeline  (compass-flower)  118  Three  Silences 382 

Hiawatha  (“Ye  whose  ”)  . 142  “Count  Hugo  once”  . G.  L.  127 

Sandalphon 225  “This  happened”  . G.  L.  147-8 


Giotto’s  Tower 321  “ As  the  plowing  ” N.  E.  T.  20-1 

Divtna  Commedia,  I.  . . . 322  “On  the  First  Day”  N.  E.  T.  50 

Santa  Teresa’s  Book-Mark  . 340 

Conversation . — Has  Longfellow  a deep  sense  of  the 
mystery  of  Nature?  or  any  sense  of  it  as  Fate?  Does 
it  seem  to  put  many  questions  to  him  ? History  and  lit- 
erature are  full  of  poems  for  him,  — but  does  Science 
sing  “ rhymes  of  the  universe  ” to  him,  as  to  Tennyson 
and  Emerson?  (See  Kavanagh,  ch.  4,  for  a poet’s 
mathematics  ! Yet  see  Poems,  415,  456,  etc.,  and  recall 
his  friendship  with  Agassiz,  224.)  Does  Science  deepen 
Poetry  and  Religion,  and  is  the  best  of  both  to  come  ? 
or  does  Science  quench  them  both  ? 

Has  Longfellow  given  us  any  good  hymns  ? What 
makes  a real  hymn  ? The  better  poem,  the  worse  hymn, 
— is  that  true  by  necessity  ? Why  true  so  generally, 
then  ? Can  you  turn,  in  his  poems,  to  many  passages 
of  trust  and  worship  ? To  any  of  questioning  and  doubt  ? 
Does  he  often  name  the  name  “ God  ” ? Yet  can  we 
call  him  other  than  a “ religious  ” poet  ? Wherein,  then, 
does  his  religiousness  show  itself  ? Compare  with  Whit- 
tier : how  is  it  that  one  has  furnished  so  many  songs 


CHARACTER , — ITS  MAKING. 


35 


and  almost  no  hymns,  and  the  other  so  many  hymns  and 
almost  no  songs  ? Do  you  know  the  16  real  ” hymns  by 
the  Poet’s  brother,  Samuel  Longfellow  ? (p.  135.) 

Can  you  make  out  from  the  poems  the  Poet’s 
“ church  ” ? (Life,  162-3,  258.)  For  his  church-going, 
see  Poems,  78,  384,  398,  400.  For  his  “ minister,”  see 
Kavanagh,  ch.  18,  19.  What  of  that  faith  in  Lucifer, 
G.  L.,  200  ? Is  not  Longfellow,  “ by  eminence  ” again, 
our  poet  of  the  Night  ? Add  to  those  named  above 
his  other  poems  about  its  calm,  its  voices,  its  stars,  and 
see  how  noble  a group  they  make,  — to  match  those  of 
the  Sea,  p.  31,  above. 


VIII. 

MAN. 


(1.) 


Character,  — its  Making. 


“ Act,  — act  in  the  living  present ! 

Heart  within , and  God' overhead!  ” 

“ Know  how  sublime  a thing  it  is 
To  suffer  and  be  strong .” 

“ But  wanting  still  the  glory  of  the  spire.” 


PAGE 

Psalm  op  Life 2 

Light  of  Stars 3 

Excelsior 40 

Builders 130 

Ladder  of  St.  Augustine  . . 212 

Goblet  of  Life 39 

Maidenhood 39 

Building  of  the  Ship  (“He 

knew”) 125 

Hiawatha  (V.) 151 

Something  Left  Undone  . . 227 
King  Robert  of  Sicily  . . . 243 

Wind  over  Chimney  .....  320 
Giotto’s  Tower  . . . . . 321 


PAGE 


Two  Rivers 383 

Sifting  of  Peter 399 

Windmill 400 

Sundown  . 407 

Loss  and  Gain 413 


Forgiveness  . 33, 104 ; G.  L.  128 
Temptation  Resisted 

342-4;  D.  T.  13,  76,  117 
Temptation  Yielded  to 

344-50 ; G.  L.  20-4,  61-8 
Penitence 

D.  T.  42,  136  ; G.  L.  60,  127-8 
Retribution.  — See  above,  under 
“Eternal  Goodness.” 


86 


HEROES  AND  SAINTS . 


Conversation.  — What  made  the  young  poet’s  first 
cluster  of  poems  become  such  “ household  words  ” ? The 
most  stirring  verse  to  you  in  each  of  the  first  five  poems  ? 
(For  the  origin,  etc.,  of  the  first  three,  see  Life,  181-2, 
64.)  Is  the  Psalm  of  Life  merely  “ a clever  marshaling 
and  burnishing  of  commonplaces  ” ? Compare  with  it 
Hyperion,  24-30,  85,  379-81,  and  the  closing  chapter 
of  Kavanagh.  Longfellow’s  own  explanation  of  Excel- 
sior, in  Life,  202  : do  the  lines  retain  their  popularity  ? 
For  Maidenhood,  see  Life,  224.  Is  the  last  verse  of 
Wind  over  Chimney  true  for  most  workers  ? Giotto’s 
Tower,  — is  not  the  want  of  reverence  often  a mere 
want  of  poetry  ? The  element  of  imagination  in  rever- 
ence. Sifting  of  Peter,  — which  verse  repeats  a favorite 
emphasis  of  Longfellow  ? 

(2.)  Heroes  and  Saints. 

4 

“ Whene'er  a noble  deed  is  wrought , 

Whene'er  is  spoken  a noble  thought , 

Our  hearts , in  glad  surprise , 

To  higher  levels  rise." 

PAGE 

Belisarius  362 

Palissy  (in  Klramos)  . . . 369 

Poets 381 

Michael  Angelo  ....  415-67 
Luther  . . N.  E.  T.  IX. -XVI. 

Prophets D.  T.  1-4 

“The  blessed  Mary”  . G.  L.  164 
Elsie  in  G.  L. 

Edith  and  the  Coreys  in 
N.  E.  T. 


PAGE 

COPLAS  DE  Manrique  . . . 14-16 

To  W.  E.  Channing  ....  41 


Good  Part .42 

Evangeline  . . . 104, 108, 118 

Santa  Filomena  .....  222 
Legend  Beautiful  . . . . 286 

Divina  Commedia  (I.-VI.)  . . 322 
Judas  Macoab’s  (II.,  III.)  326-32 

Prometheus 211,  343 

Charles  Sumner 358 


Conversation.  — The  difference  between  the  “ hero  ” 
and  the  “ saint  ” ? With  the  Coplas  de  Manrique  com- 
pare Wordsworth’s  “ Happy  Warrior.”  The  noblest  of 
the  Dante  sonnets  ? The  divine  Dante  with  which  I 


THE  CHRIST. 


37 


begin  every  morning  ! ” writes  Longfellow.  “ I write  a 
few  lines  every  day  before  breakfast.  It  is  the  first 
thing  I do,  — the  morning  prayer,  the  keynote  of  the 
day.”  A statue  of  Dante  stands  upon  a book-case  in  the 
study,  and  a bit  of  wood  from  Dante’s  casket  is  treas- 
ured in  a little  shrine.  The  fascination  of  the  Sonnet : 
why  is  a good  sonnet  apt  to  be  very  good  ? (See  Nor- 
man’s article  in  the  “ Living  Age,”  No.  2015,  p.  302.) 
The  Michael  Angelo,  a noble  poem  for  a history  class 
to  study,  — using  with  it  Grimm’s  “ Life  of  Michael  An- 
gelo,” Symonds’s  “ Renaissance,”  etc.,  and  illustrating 
with  photographs. 

Now,  with  all  these  poems  of  Man  in  thought,  what 
should  you  say  were  Longfellow’s  chief  life  emphases  ? 
The  reason  why  most  people  like  sermons  in  song  ? Are 
such  sermons  usually  good  poems  ? What  does  the 
maxim  “ Art  for  art’s  sake  ” mean,  — and  amount  to  ? 
Does  a moral  purpose  help,  or  hinder,  art?  Can  that 
be  noble  art  which  has  no  moral  effect  ? Does  Longfel- 
low too  often  tag  a moral  to  his  song  ? Is  the  effect  of 
his  poetry,  on  the  whole,  active  or  passive,  — does  it 
stir  you,  or  rest  you,  — teach  duty,  or  beauty,  — give 
strength,  or  serenity,  — help,  or  pleasure  ? 


(3.)  The  Christ. 


4‘  And  evermore  beside  Mm  on  Ms  way 
The  unseen  Christ  shall  move 


PAGE 

The  Birth  . . 378 ; G.  L.  89-101 
School-Days.  D.  T.  108  ; G.  L.  102-8 
“The  Good  Master”  D.  T.  9-113 

The  Spiritual  Christ 


page 

The  Crucified  . . D.  T.  114-141 
The  Risen 

G.  L.  79-83 


399 ; G.  L.  48,  56,  109,  286 ; G.  L.  38 


D.  T.  141-8  ; 

1 33,  35, 135 ; D.  T.  156 ; N.  E.  T.  185, 104, 


38 


THE  IMMORTAL  LIFE . 


Conversation . — Does  the  Gospel  story  gain  or  lose 
color  by  the  dramatizing  ? e.  <7.,  compare  pp.  82-5  with 
Luke  xviii.  9-30.  Notice  the  almost  untouched  figure 
of  Jesus  against  the  altered  background.  Of  the  bright- 
ened figures  in  that  background,  which  is  drawn  the 
best,  — Mary  Magdalene,  42  ; Manahem,  51 ; Bartimeus, 
66 ; Mary  and  Martha,  85  ; Gamaliel,  107  ; Barabbas, 
129  ? Do  you  accept  the  explanation  of  the  Tempta* 
tion,  13  ; and  of  Judas,  136  ? Is  any  light  cast  on  Nic- 
odemus,  62 ; Pilate,  127  ; the  Cross,  138  ? With  pp. 
92-9  compare  Helen  of  Tyre,  397.  On  the  whole,  are 
you  glad  Longfellow  wrote  the  Divine  Tragedy  ? (See 
Life,  103,  151.)  What  should  you  take  to  be  Longfel- 
low’s own  thought  of  Jesus?  And,  once  more,  what  is 
his  thought  in  the  series  called  “ Christus  ” ? The  rela- 
tion of  the  actual,  the  historic,  and  the  spiritual  Christ 
to  each  other  ? 


(4.)  The  Immortal  Life. 

“ Only  a step  into  the  outer  air 
Out  of  a tent  already  luminous  k 

With  light  that  shines  through  its  transparent  walls  ! ” 


PAGE 

Reaper  and  Flowers  ...  3 

Footsteps  of  Angels  ...  4 

Song  of  the  Silent  Land  . 24 

Children  of  Lord’s  Supper  . 34 

God’s-Acre 37 

Evangeline 119, 120 

Resignation  ......  129 

Open  Window  ......  132 

Suspiria 135 

Hiawatha  (XV.,  XIX.,  XX.) 

174,  183,  185 
Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports  213 
Haunted  Houses  ....  214 

Two  Angels 215 

Haunted  Chamber  ....  228 
Legend  of  Rabbi  Ben  Levi  . 242 


PAGE 

Azrael* . 293 

Mother’s  Ghost 312 

Charles  Sumner  .....  358 
Three  Friends  of  Mine  . . 364 
VlTTORIA  COLONNA  . . . . 374 

Delia 380 

Nature 380 

Bayard  Taylor  . . * . . 394 
Chamber  over  the  Gate  . . 395 
Auf  Wiedersehbn  ....  405 
Victor  and  Vanquished  . . 414 


Michael  Angelo  . 447,  450,  466-7 
Golden  Legend 

51,  71,  121,  150-4,  166,  183 
New  England  Tragedies  107-12 


BROTHERHOOD . 


39 


Conversation . — Which  poem  here  touches  and  helps 
us  most  ? Does  Longfellow  in  any  poem  hint  the 
ground  of  this  perfect  faith?  (See  Hyperion,  Bk.  II., 
ch.  6 ; also,  Bk.  IV.,  ch.  5 and  8.)  The  secret  of  fear, 
and  of  fearlessness,  before  Death : see  the  Prince  and 
Elsie  in  G.  L.  ( e . <7.,  p.  180).  Compare  Longfellow  and 
Whittier  as  poets  of  this  trust;  and  with  Victor  and 
Vanquished  read  Browning’s  “ Prospice.”  Suspiria  and 
part  of  Hiawatha,  XV.,  were  read  at  the  Poet’s  fu- 
neral, — and  the  snow-flakes  began  to  fall  (227). 


IX. 

BROTHERHOOD. 

(1.)  With  the  Lowly  and  Oppressed. 

“ The  friend  of  every  friendless  beast.” 


PAGE  PAGE 

Poems  on  Slavery  . . . 41-44  Walter  von  der  Vogelweid  88 

Jewish  Cemetery  ....  216  Statue  over  Cathedral  Door  93 

Torquemada 264  Emperor’s  Bird’s-Nest  . . 215 

Ropewalk  (verse  8)  . . . . 220  Birds  of  Killingworth  . . 268 

Challenge 229  Bell  of  Atri 273 

King  Robert  of  Sicily  . . 243  Interlude,  after  Atri  . . 275 

Legend  Beautiful  ....  286  Wayside  Inn,  Prelude  III.  . 292 


Revenge  of  Rain-in-the-Face  375  Sermon  of  St.  Francis  . . 362 

(2.)  Peace  on  Earth. 

“ A voice , a chime , 

A chant  sublime 

Of  peace  on  earth , good  will  to  men!” 

PAGE  PAGE 

Arsenal 78  Peace-Pipe 142 

Occult ation  of  Orion.  . . 84  Nun  of  Nidaros 262 

Tegner’s  Drapa 133  Christmas  Bells  . . . . . 319 


(3.)  The  Universal  Church. 

“ The  simple  thought 
By  the  Great  Master  taught , 


40 


THE  UNIVERSAL  CHURCH. 


And  that  remaineth  still : 

Not  he  that  repeateth  the  name , 

But  he  that  doeth  the  will  1 ” 

PAGE  PAGE 

Hiawatha  (“Ye.  whose  ”)  . 142  Abbot  Joachim  . . D.  T.  157-9 

Wayside  Inn  (The  “ The-  Prologue  ....  N.  E.  T.  8 

ologian  ”)  ....  234,  263  St.  John  . . . N.  E.  T.  183-6 

Bells  of  San  Blas  ....  411 

Conversation . — Has  he  forgotten  any  class  of  suf- 
ferers ? See  the  collection  of  his  poems  and  prose-ex- 
tracts  called  “ Seven  Voices  of  Sympathy ; ” and  for 
anecdotes  of  his  kindness,  see  Life,  152,  157-62,  223, 
242.  But  says  Stedman,  in  the  “ Century  ” article 
(Oct.  1883,  pp.  929,  930,  940),  “ Neither  war  nor  grief 
ever  too  much  disturbed  the  artist-soul.  Tragedy  went 
no  deeper  with  him  than  its  pathos : it  was  another  ele- 
ment of  the  beautiful : ” are  these  words  true,  or  harsh  ? 
(See  Hyperion,  306.)  How  does  imagination  increase 
sympathy ; — and  how  lessen  it  ? Are  selfish  persons,  as 
a rule,  unimaginative  ? Are  poets,  artists,  musicians,  as 
a rule,  unselfish  and  heroic  ? Why,  — or  why  not  ? 
Was  Longfellow  ever  the  soldier  of  a cause  ? Is  that 
to  the  credit,  or  the  discredit,  of  his  nature  and  his 
culture  ? Are  rounded  men  often  such  soldiers  ? In 
whose  behalf  did  he  come  his  nearest  to  being  one  ? 
“ That  birds  have  souls,”  can  you  concede  ? (p.  292.) 
Ought  the  Bells  of  San  Bias  to  be  included  above  ? 
Notice,  again,  its  last  lines,  — the  prophecy  with  which 
our  Poet  closes  his  work.  Compare  Whittier  and  Lowell 
as  his  fellow-poets  of  the  “ Universal  Church.” 

Now,  can  you  sum  up  our  Poet’s  “ creed  ” ? and  put 
each  article  of  it  in  his  own  words  ? “ Too  broadly 

human  to  suit  the  specialized  tastes  of  the  sects.”  (0. 
W.  Holmes.)  Can  a poet  in  our  day  be  a dogmatist  ? 


THE  POET. 


41 


X. 

THE  POET. 

HIS  INSPIRATION  AND  HIS  MINISTRY. 

“ For  voices  pursue  him  by  day , 

And  haunt  him  by  night , 

And  he  listens , and  needs  must  obey, 

When  the  Angel  says : ‘ Write .’  ” 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Prelude  to  Voices  op  Night 

1 

Hiawatha  .... 

141, 

154,  174 

Flowers 

4 

Prometheus  . . . 

. 211 

Spirit  op  Poetry  .... 

9 

Daylight  and  Moonlight 

. 216 

Spanish  Student  (“  Visions  ”) 

52 

Snowflakes  . . . 

. 227 

Carillon 

76 

Fata  Morgana  . . 

. 228 

Rain  in  Summer 

81 

Vox  Populi  . . . 

Seaweed  ....... 

86 

Epimetheus  . . . 

Day  is  Done 

87 

Wind  over  Chimney 

. . 

. 320 

Walter  yon  der  Vogelweid 

Tides  

. 367 

88  ; G.  L.  76-7, 

142 

Descent  of  Muses  . 

. . 

. 381 

Arrow  and  Song  .... 

90 

Poets  

. 381 

Curfew 

94 

Moods 

Seaside  and  Fireside,  Ded’n 

121 

Broken  Oar  . . . 

. 385 

Birds  of  Passage  . . . 131, 

313 

Jugurtha  . . . . 

. 396 

Gaspar  Becerra 

132 

Poet  and  ms  Songs 

. . 

. 401 

Pegasus  in  Pound  .... 

133 

Becalmed  . . . . 

, . 402 

Singers  

134 

Possibilities  . . . 

, . 414 

(1.)  Longfellow  as  Poet  Laureate. 

“ A sweetness  as  of  home-made  bread .” 

Conversation . — Whence  comes  the  Poet’s  inspiration, 
according  to  Longfellow?  How  often  he  tries  to  tell 
us  ! And  what  is  his  ideal  of  the  “ ministry  of  song  ” ? 
Compare  his  answers  with  those  of  other  poets : do  they 
all  feel  the  mission,  and  the  mystery  about  themselves  ? 
Bryant,  Longfellow,  Emerson,  Whittier,  Holmes,  and 
Lowell : among  our  six  elder  poets  Longfellow  was  the 
only  poet-by-profession,  — was  that  to  his  profit,  or  to  his 
loss,  as  poet  ? A man  of  no  “ collisions,”  — was  that 
helpful  ? What  beside  poet  were  the  other  five  poets  ? 


42 


AS  POET  LAUREATE. 


Can  Longfellow  be  called  “ original  ” ? If  so,  in  what 
sense  ? Howells  speaks  of  “ his  exquisite  intellectual 
refinement,  which  has  troubled  shallowness  with  doubts 
of  his  original  power.”  Stedman  says,  “ The  clerkly 
singer  fulfilled  his  office,  which  was  not  in  the  least  cre- 
ative. . . . His  originality  did  not  consist  in  word  or 
motive,” — but  in  what  ? Norton  says,  “ Not  by  depth 
of  thought  or  by  original  views  of  Nature,”  — but  by 
what  ? 

Can  you  illustrate  from  his  poems  the  difference  be- 
tween “ imagination  ” and  “ fancy  ” ? Which  the  more 
abounds  in  him  ? 

The  secret  of  so  little  dramatic  power,  with  so  much 
success  in  story-telling  and  in  genre  pictures  ? Could  he 
write  a prose  story  ? 

Our  Poet  before  Nature  : did  he  see  it , or  into  it,  or 
too  much  through  it  to  “ the  land  of  Song  within  ” ? 
Which  must  one  do,  to  be  poet  ? which,  to  be  the  great- 
est poet  ? See  Prelude,  p.  1 ; and  above,  pp.  19,  34. 

What  poems  show  humor  ? But  so  little ! Is  humor 
the  sense  of  contrast  ? and  is  one’s  share  of  it  inversely 
proportioned  to  his  sense  of  harmony,  — does  sympathy 
with  the  beautiful  by  so  much  exclude  the  grotesque  ? 
“ A certain  beautiful  gayety,  which  is  to  humor  what 
bouquet  is  to  the  body  of  wine.”  (Howells.) 

Some  happy  absences  : is  there  anything  morbid  in  his 
poetry,  any  satire,  any  egotism,  any  appeal  for  sympa- 
thy with  himself,  any  straining  for  effect,  anything  in 
poor  taste,  — to  spoil  this  “ sweetness  as  of  home-made 
bread  ” ? “ To  some  it  seemed  shallow  because  it  was 

translucent.”  But  is  it  shallow,  or  not  ? What  verses, 
if  any,  are  obscure  to  you  ? Read  J.  Vila  Blake’s  two 
fine  sonnets  about  Longfellow,  in  Life,  330. 


AS  POET  LAUREATE. 


43 


Note  the  variety  of  his  work,  both  as  to  theme  and 
form.  Is  its  quality  equal,  or  “ very  unequal  ” ? After 
his  first  deepening  (see  Prelude  to  Voices  of  Night,  p. 
1),  did  his  quality  change,  or  remain  essentially  the 
same,  between  youth  and  age  ? Does  his  power  grow 
up  to  the  end  ? In  what  class  of  poems  do  you  think 
his  thought  at  the  loftiest,  and  his  art  at  the  noblest  ? 
In  that  class  does  any  other  American  poet  equal  him  ? 

Is  he  an  “ artist  ” in  his  work  ? “ Like  Cellini  in 

gems  and  metals,  he  was  a worker  in  words.”  (C.  A. 
Bartol.)  “ A craftsman  of  unerring  taste,  who  always 
gave  us  of  his  best.  ...  A lyrical  artist,  whose  taste 
outranked  his  inspiration.”  (E.  C.  Stedman.)  Can  you 
detect  the  “ work  ” in  the  poems  ? Do  you  think  they 
came  to  him,  and  from  him,  swiftly,  or  slowly  ? (See 
Life,  107,  112,  151-2,  181-2,  191-2,  198.)  His  sense 
of  the  music  of  words  as  tested  by  the  number  of  his 
poems  set  to  music : and  of  what  else  is  this  a hint  ? 
(See  Life,  185-7.) 

Does  “ criticism  ” mean  flaw-finding,  or  appreciation  ? 
Allston’s  rule  of  art  criticism : “ Never  judge  a work  of 
art  by  its  defects.”  Listen  to  the  Wayside  Inn  circle 
(the  Interludes,  etc.)  as  a company  of  friendly  critics ; 
and  for  Longfellow’s  own  method  of  illuminating  the 
meaning  of  an  author,  see  the  Notes  to  his  translation 
of  Dante.  Can  you  criticise,  and  at  the  same  time  ad- 
mire ? Has  your  criticism  in  this  study  of  Longfellow’s 
poems  tended  to  make  you  find,  or  lose,  the  poetry  in 
them  ? Is  he  more,  or  less,  to  you  than  before  the 
study  ? “ Recognize  the  instinct  that  defined  his  range, 

and  value  the  range  at  its  worth.”  (Stedman.)  And 
now  let  us  try  to  be  true  critics,  thoughtful,  grateful, 
humble,  but  frank,  in  answering  these  questions  : — 


44 


AS  POET  WELCOME. 


(1.)  To  which  of  his  three  kinds  of  “ Singers  ” (p. 
134)  does  Longfellow  himself  belong  ? 

(2.)  Is  he  right,  — “ No  best  in  kind  ” ? 

(3.)  What  does  he  lack  as  poet  ? 

(4.)  Wherein  to  you  lie  his  power  and  charm  as 
poet  ? Is  there  not  one  poem  of  his  own  that  answers 
well  the  question  for  us  ? 

(5.)  In  what  order  would  you  at  present  rank  our  six 
elder  poets  of  America  ? 

(2.)  As  Poet  Welcome. 

44  Therefore  I hope , as  no  unwelcome  guest , 

At  your  warm  fireside , when  the  lamps  are  lighted , 

To  have  my  place  reserved  among  the  rest , 

Nor  stand  as  one  unsought  and  uninvited 

Longfellow  with  his  reader-friends : read  again  his 
Dedication  to  Seaside  and  Fireside,  p.  121.  Why  is  our 
feeling  towards  a poet  — towards  one's  own  poet  — so 
unlike  that  felt  for  any  other  author  ? (See  Howells  in 
“ North  American  Review,”  civ.  540.)  Where  ought 
Longfellow  to  be  read,  — out-doors,  or  by  the  fireside  ? 
when  alone,  or  when  with  others  ? Is  he  a man’s  poet, 
or  a woman’s  poet  ? Which  of  his  poems  is  the  woman’s 
favorite  ? and  which  the  boy’s  favorite  ? Is  he  a poet’s 
poet  ? In  what  sense  is  he  “ the  poet  of  the  common- 
place ” ? and  “ the  poet  of  the  middle-classes  ” ? Do 
these  two  phrases  come  to  the  same  thing  ? 

Why  has  he  been  so  little  criticised  as  yet  in  Amer- 
ica ? Is  the  estimate  of  him  changing,  — is  he  now  be- 
ginning to  seem  “ elementary  ” ? or  is  there  “ a tendency 
to  class  him  with  the  poets  of  mediocrity  ” ? and  is  there 
really  “ much  that  has  little  or  no  permanent  value  ” ? 

What  is  the  secret  of  his  far-reaching  popularity  with 
so  many  ages,  classes,  nations  ? (See  Life,  357-60,  oi 


AS  POET  FAMILIAR. 


45 


“ Literary  World,”  Feb.  26,  1881,  for  a long  list  of 
translations  from  his  works,  — even  into  Polish,  Hebrew, 
Chinese  !)  “ The  music  he  wrote  is  all  lying,  unwrit- 

ten, in  us.”  (J.  D.  Long.  See  Life,  136-45,  for  what 
Gov.  Long  and  Dr.  Bartol  say  of  him.  Also  Hyperion, 
237-8.)  “ Such  a funeral  procession  as  attended  him 

in  thought  to  his  resting-place  has  never  joined  the  train 
of  mourners  that  followed  the  hearse  of  a poet.”  (O.  W. 
Holmes.)  “ A master  whose  greatness  has  tended  to  the 
goodness  and  happiness  of  men  in  so  potent  and  fine  a 
degree  that  he  has  not  only  made  the  world  wiser  and 
pleasanter,  but  has  not  added  a word’s  weight  to  the  bit- 
terness and  evil  of  any  soul  in  it.”  (W.  D.  Howells.) 

(3.)  As  Poet  Familiar. 

“ And  the  song , from  beginning  to  end , 

I found  again  in  the  heart  of  a friend.” 

“ Till  the  familiar  lines 
Are  footpaths  for  the  thought  of  Italy  ! ” 

Now  to  compare  impressions,  each  one  bringing  his 
copy  of  the  Poems,  and,  if  possible,  written  answers  to 
the  following  questions  : — 

(1.)  Which  seems  to  you  Longfellow’s  best  long 
poem  ? his  best  drama  ? his  six  best  sonnets  ? and  out- 
side of  the  sonnets,  his  six  best  short  poems  ? Which 
poems  seem  to  you  his  most  passionate,  most  intense  in 
feeling  ? and  which  the  most  subtle  in  thought  ? 

(2.)  Six  passages  or  metaphors  whose  beauty  most 
haunts  you  ? How  many  of  the  lines  selected  for  mot- 
toes can  you  trace  to  their  homes  in  the  poems  ? Sug- 
gest better  mottoes  all  through,  submitting  them  to  the 
class. 

(3.)  Name  twelve  “ household  words,”  — daily  “ foot- 
paths ” for  our  thought. 


46 


AS  POET  FAMILIAR. 


(4.)  And  can  you  name  your  fifty  poems, — those 
which  you  would  edit  as  the  Longfellow  that  will  live  ? 
those  to  which  Holmes’s  word  applies,  “ Nothing  lasts 
like  a coin  and  a lyric  ” ? 

The  Conundrums . — A pleasant  half-hour  at  the  end 
of  each  meeting  might  he  spent  over  historic  and  literary 
allusions  that  have  a story  in  them,  — such  allusions  as 
abound,  for  instance,  in  the  Wayside  Inn  and  Morituri 
Salutamus.  Or  note  these  on  the  way,  and  now  and 
then  sift  and  deal  them  out  by  lot  for  explanation  at  a 
Conundrum  meeting, — the  class  following,  book  in  hand, 
and  each  one  throwing  light.  But  through  all  the  study 
take  care  not  to  lose  the  poem  itself  in  this  mere  wayside 
work. 

Your  own  illustrated  edition . Why  not  gradually  il- 
lustrate your  home  copy  of  Longfellow  for  yourself  with 
scraps  and  pictures  ? You  will  have  at  last  a beautiful 
treasure.  The  Soule  Photograph  Company,  338  Wash- 
ington St.,  Boston,  will  help  you  to  many  photographs  ; 
and  the  Life  of  the  Poet,  now  being  written  by  his 
brother,  will  doubtless  add  a personal  interest  to  many 
of  the  familiar  poems. 


Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow, 


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I 


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Continued  on  the  next  page. 


53. 

54. 

55. 

56. 


